Agenda: Federal bills and budgetary funding
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks at the Government meeting
Good afternoon, colleagues,
Government meeting
Before we discuss our agenda, I would like to say a few words about an important decision. On Monday, the President issued instructions for the pay grade of Russian cosmonauts to be raised.
Many years have passed since Yury Gagarin’s flight, and spacecraft continue to be upgraded all the time. Certainly, all those who have travelled into outer space are real heroes. They are unique specialists making a tremendous contribution to the development of many aspects of science and technology that are important for this country and the entire human race. This country is proud of these brave people who should be paid handsomely for their work.
As per the President’s instruction, the Government has drafted a resolution that will cover all current members of the cosmonaut squad and its future members, as well as those who have already flown space missions and those still training for them.
Their pay grades will increase considerably by 50 to 70 percent, depending on the cosmonauts’ categories. The new pay grades will also be used to calculate their bonuses.
The indexation of their pay grades, scheduled for 2022, will also be based on the new salaries. This raise will also increase the pensions of retired cosmonauts.
The agenda of today’s Government meeting includes business in the Arctic zone.
Vladimir Putin has outlined the strategy for the accelerated development of these territories, and one of the main tasks is to improve the efficiency of investments in the economy of the Russian Arctic: support businesses, create new jobs, and increase people’s incomes.
The Government will simplify access to state support mechanisms for small businesses in the Arctic. During our working trips to Northern and Far Eastern regions, investors told us such measures were necessary. Among the people we spoke with in Murmansk was a potential resident of the Arctic zone, the region’s merited doctor Konstantin Sautkin. His clinic could not apply for the status of an Arctic zone resident and tax incentives because it was purchasing expensive equipment instead of buying or leasing real estate, as is required by the law.
Now there will be exceptions for resident companies of the Arctic zone on requirements for capital investment in the construction or modernisation of real estate.
In addition to this, the excessively strict requirement for future residents – to conduct activities exclusively in one municipality of the region, at the place of state registration – will also be cancelled. If a company or individual entrepreneur is officially registered in the Arctic zone, they will be able to work in several municipalities at once on preferential terms. This will help them generate additional revenue and expand the market.
Another bill is aimed at creating additional state support mechanisms for the Arctic. We are expanding the Far Eastern Hectare programme to these areas, as entrepreneurs asked.
Now the Arctic areas where a hectare of land can be obtained on preferential terms will be expanded. People will be able to fast-track the procedure to obtain land plots and get them faster. Special focus will be made on preserving the traditions and culture of the small indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East.
We have held numerous discussions on the allocation of one hectare plots with project participants in the Far East, as well as at a recent meeting with members of the State Commission for the Socioeconomic Development of the Russian Far East. The entrepreneurs who have made good use of the allocated plots have proposed adjusting the rules to allow the allocation of one more plot for business development. This is a good idea. Of course, such people deserve to be given support.
The Government will expand the framework of the Far Eastern Hectare programme. Those who have put their land plots to good use and have registered lease or ownership rights for them will be able to receive an additional hectare of land. This measure will help us to more actively involve idle land in economic operation both in the Far Eastern Federal District and in the Arctic zone. It is even more important that this will provide people with an incentive to start businesses and build family homes, as well as increase people’s incomes and make their lives more comfortable.
In June last year, the Government launched the FOT 2.0 easy loan programme to encourage businesses to maintain employment levels during the coronavirus pandemic. Today we will approve an additional allocation of more than 22 billion roubles for the final stage of this programme. The instruction to this effect has been issued by the President.
The programme was quite effective. An overwhelming majority of companies that took part in it demonstrated a high level of social responsibility when implementing their commitments. They have preserved employment at a level that allows us to write off part or the whole of their debts under such loans.
Overall, more than 5 million jobs have been saved thanks to this programme. The businesses involved and their personnel will not have to start from scratch. They will be able to rapidly increase production when the demand for their output starts growing again.
The Government will also allocate additional funds for agricultural development.
We will earmark 1 billion roubles to support poultry production and processing. The agricultural companies working in this sector will have an opportunity to take out larger short-term loans on easy terms. We hope that these measures will help us to balance the supply and demand in this market and to stabilise the prices of socially significant products.
More than 1 billion roubles will be allocated for the development of the fisheries, including for the organisation of eight research expeditions and to repair vessels, among them world famous sailing ships like Sedov and Kruzenshtern. These measures are an important part of the Government’s efforts to create a modern competitive agricultural complex.
Acting in accordance with the Presidential instructions, the Government will continue preparations for the 32nd FISU Summer World University Games. They will be held in Yekaterinburg in 2023. This is not the first international sports event our country will host. All of us remember the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The 29th Winter World University Games held in Krasnoyarsk two years ago were a huge success. The athletes who took part in these events praised the high standards of our sports infrastructure.
Today the Government will approve the allocation of nearly 10 billion roubles to co-finance the construction of a Water Sports Palace and a Calisthenics Centre in Yekaterinburg.
There is a great deal we need to do. In all, we must build, renovate or repair over 40 sports facilities. It is very important to create the necessary conditions for the participants and visitors of the World University Games.
